Agricultural law current issues from a global perspective

LITES – Legal Issues in Transdisciplinary Environmental Studies Series Editors: Massimo Monteduro · Saverio Di Benedetto Alessandro Isoni Mariagrazia Alabrese Margherita Brunori Silvia Rolandi · Andrea Saba Editors Agricultural Law Current Issues from a Global Perspective www.ebook3000.com LITES – Legal Issues in Transdisciplinary Environmental Studies Volume Series Editors Massimo Monteduro University of Salento, Lecce, Italy Saverio Di Benedetto University of Salento, Lecce, Italy Alessandro Isoni University of Salento, Lecce, Italy The ‘Legal Issues in Transdisciplinary Environmental Studies’ (LITES) Book Series is based on the assumption that the process of dialogue and cultural integration between law, life and earth sciences, and social and human sciences should be strengthened and updated, by relying on transdisciplinary research platforms such as agroecology, environmental studies, environmental science, and sustainability science According to the new paradigm of social-ecological systems (SES), the concept of the environment is conceived as a complex system of relationships between ecological and social factors, including the cultural and economic ones The primary purpose of law, in this conceptual framework, is to preside over the durability of the essential conditions for the survival of the social-ecological systems and the protection of life at all scales (of individuals, societies, ecosystems) LITES Series aims to explore the relationships between legal and environmental sciences according to a transdisciplinary perspective On the one hand, natural and social environmental sciences need to integrate the point of view of law: this entails to study the complexities of SES in the light of normative and institutional variables, with the lens of categories such as rights, duties, powers, responsibilities, and procedural safeguards On the other hand, law is called upon to review its own internal geometries, confronting them with the holistic approach toward sustainability in the scientific debate Accordingly, law should address the need of changing the approach that so far has led to both hypertrophy and disarticulation when regulating closely linked matters such as the environment, agriculture, forestry, landscape and cultural heritage, energy, and food LITES Series is addressed to a wide international and interdisciplinary readership, targeting academic researchers and scholars, experts and practitioner lawyers, public administrations, judges, and law-makers Its volume editors and contributing authors have different backgrounds and come from all over the world in order to provide a forum for discussion and normative analysis about new legal frontiers of human-environment interactions across disciplinary barriers More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15038 www.ebook3000.com Mariagrazia Alabrese • Margherita Brunori • Silvia Rolandi • Andrea Saba Editors Agricultural Law Current Issues from a Global Perspective Editors Mariagrazia Alabrese DIRPOLIS - Institute of Law, Politics and Development Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Pisa, Italy Margherita Brunori DIRPOLIS - Institute of Law, Politics and Development Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Pisa, Italy Silvia Rolandi DIRPOLIS - Institute of Law, Politics and Development Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Pisa, Italy Andrea Saba DIRPOLIS - Institute of Law, Politics and Development Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Pisa, Italy ISSN 2522-5049 ISSN 2522-5057 (electronic) LITES – Legal Issues in Transdisciplinary Environmental Studies ISBN 978-3-319-64755-5 ISBN 978-3-319-64756-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-64756-2 Library of Congress Control Number: 2017956119 © Springer International Publishing AG 2017 This work is subject to copyright All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland www.ebook3000.com Preface Legal scholars are paying increasing attention to agricultural issues Nevertheless, the field largely remains an underresearched area of law and is considered historically as a specific area of research for life sciences and economics The number and scope of questions that revolve around agricultural issues are increasingly requiring the legal research community to adopt a new approach Challenges, such as the governance of the food system worldwide, the maintenance of agricultural natural resources, as well as land governance, are making it necessary to address agri-food and agri-environmental issues with a globalized approach Against this background, the book aims to address some of the complexities of the agri-food and agrienvironmental regimes The Introduction traces the evolution of agricultural law and provides an overview of the new social and environmental challenges that will need to be addressed Emerging issues are placed in the broader conceptual context of a global perspective The chapters are grouped into three main parts, each of which has its own brief introduction Part I covers the governance of natural resources and their prominence in tackling food insecurity Every agricultural activity begins with the resources provided by nature While in the past they were traditionally regulated by national governments, today their regulation is increasingly being addressed through a framework of international governance This is due to the necessity to preserve the availability of natural resources and the conservation of ecosystems while at the same time responding to the growing world population and the relating demand for food, in particular for more protein-rich diets, as well as other nonfood agricultural products With regard to these aspects, this part examines the concepts of sustainable agriculture and agro-ecosystem services in connection with food security Part II deals with the regulation of the main product of the agricultural activity— food Today, the food production chain is being expanded by technological developments, interactions between “public” and “private” standards, food safety issues, animal welfare standards, and markets This part outlines the answers that agri-food v vi Preface regulations are able to provide in order to meet new and evolving consumer interests and concerns Novel foods, animal welfare, direct sales of specific food products, and the development of e-commerce in the food sector are also covered Part III concerns the social, environmental, and legal consequences of a renewed interest in agricultural investment Top-down interventions in agricultural systems, led by both national and international public and private actors, often clash with the vulnerability of customary local systems on which the livelihood of a rural population relies The evolution and the interplay of different legal systems with regard to land tenure, environmental concerns, and investments in agriculture are discussed, drawing on both the most recent international debate as well as case studies Pisa, Italy Mariagrazia Alabrese Margherita Brunori Silvia Rolandi Andrea Saba www.ebook3000.com Contents Agricultural Law from a Global Perspective: An Introduction Mariagrazia Alabrese Part I Environmental Protection and Food Security at the Cross-Roads with Agricultural Law Sustainable Agricultural Production, Environmental Sustainability and Food Security: How to Frame the Legal Intervention Elisa Morgera and Andrea Saba 15 The Ecological and Perpetual Dimensions of European Food Security: The Case for Sustainable Agriculture Alicia Epstein 19 International Law on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture: Towards a New Balance? Anna G Micara 53 Results-Based Agri-Environmental Schemes for Delivering Ecosystem Services in the EU: Established Issues and Emerging Trends Andrea Saba 83 The Legal Instruments for Agri-Environmental Goals and the Influence of International Factors: The Case of Swiss Agricultural Policies 123 Christa Preisig Part II Emerging Consumers’ Interests: Answers from the Agri-Food Regulation The Emerging Interests of Consumers: Answers from the Agri-Food Regulation 155 Vito Rubino vii viii Contents Insects in Agriculture: Traditional Roles and Beyond 163 Valeria Paganizza Animal Welfare Standards in Agriculture: Drivers, Implications, Interface? 181 Diane Ryland Legal Pluralism and the Regulation of Raw Milk Sales in Canada: Creating Space for Multiple Normative Orders at the Food Policy Table 211 Sarah Berger Richardson Food E-Commerce as a New Tool for the Growth of the Economy European Legal Framework for Information of Prepacked Food Sold Online 231 Silvia Rolandi Part III Land Tenure, Investment Law and Agriculture Land Governance, Investment Law, Agriculture, and the Rights of Local Populations 247 Adriana Bessa and Margherita Brunori Access to Land and Security of Tenure in the Resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly 255 Margherita Brunori Global Land Rush, Water Grabbing and the Human Right to Water 293 Francesca Spagnuolo The Regulatory Vicious Circle of Investment Operations in Agriculture 311 Federica Violi Between Customary and Statutory Tenure: Understanding Large-Scale Land Acquisitions in Zambia 341 Margherita Baldarelli Agricultural Land Ownership as Food Sovereignty: The Case of Slovakia 367 Katarı´na Dirgasova´ and Jarmila Lazı´kova´ www.ebook3000.com Agricultural Law from a Global Perspective: An Introduction Mariagrazia Alabrese Introduction Over the years, a growing number of scholars have been involved in different aspects of agricultural law, which is an inspiring and challenging field It is challenging from a “technical” point of view because it embraces international, national, and subnational norms and institutions It also involves several other related disciplines, such as commercial law, contract law, administrative law, law on finance and credit, labor law, the legal framework of insurance, intellectual property regulation, trade law, to mention just a few.1 It is also challenging from a “political” viewpoint because it tackles key complex issues, such as the governance of the global food system, the maintenance of agricultural natural resources, the world trade of commodities, the agribusiness sector As recently reported, “a strong agricultural economy is the key to a peaceful society Without a reliable supply of safe, affordable food, the future will be one of famine, disease, and disorder on a global scale.”2 In fact, good agriculture policies and the modernization of the agri-food sector play a huge role in one of the most significant political and socioeconomic challenges that States are currently facing, notably in the area of migration, which usually originates from rural regions.3 This branch of law is inspiring because it deals with fundamental rights and values It looks at the management of natural resources and securing the very basic needs of human beings in every corner of the world Agriculture is an economic Hamilton (1990), p 505, shares this view that the “the variety of issues implicated in a typical agricultural relationship” make the study and practice of agricultural law challenging Jacobi and Andersen (2016), p 178 FAO (2016) M Alabrese (*) DIRPOLIS - Institute of Law, Politics and Development, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy e-mail: mariagrazia.alabrese@santannapisa.it © Springer International Publishing AG 2017 M Alabrese et al (eds.), Agricultural Law, LITES – Legal Issues in Transdisciplinary Environmental Studies, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-64756-2_1 374 K Dirgasova´ and J Lazı´kova´ concerning the acquisition of agricultural land in Slovakia, referred to in Chapter of Annex XIV to the 2003 Act on Accession, was extended until April 30, 2011 On June 1, 2014, the Law on the Acquisition of Ownership of Agricultural Land came into force The main objective of this law is to protect agricultural land in Slovakia as a natural resource, as well as protect the predominant right of farmers to access agricultural land.50 The law seeks to meet these objectives with the introduction of a very complicated procedure for agricultural land transactions.51 There are also some personnel and objective exemptions when the complicated process is not necessary.52 Most land transactions, however, became even more complicated Within the diction of the new legal regulation, it is no longer sufficient to only conclude the purchase or donation contract on agricultural land.53 It is necessary to carry out a number of other administrative procedures, which extends the whole transaction process Generally, an owner of agricultural land, known as a transferor, who wants to sell, exchange, or donate his/her land, is obliged to publish his/her offer in the Registry, which is available from the website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of the Slovak Republic Any offer of agricultural land has to be published in the Registry for a period of at least 15 days Formal requirements for submitting an offer concerning the transfer of agricultural landownership are exhaustively listed in the law.54 At the same time, the owner is obliged to publish the offer on the bulletin board in the municipality in which the agricultural land is located.55 The potential acquirer of land is obliged to record his/her interest in the acquisition of the offered land in the Registry and at the address of the owner as well.56 Otherwise, an irrefutable presumption of absence of his/her interest in the transfer of ownership is established Moreover, lawmakers have set out the order of persons entitled to become acquirers of agricultural land.57 The farmer who has provided an agricultural business for at least years before the conclusion of a contract in the municipality in which the respective land is situated has the predominant right to offer land In such cases, the bureaucratic process described above is not necessary Further, the ownership of agricultural land may be acquired by a person who has permanent residence (in the case of a natural person) or a registered office (in the case of a legal person) in Slovakia for at least 10 years and carried out agricultural production as a 50 Slovakia, Explanatory Statement to the Law 140/2014 Collection on the Acquisition of Ownership of Agricultural Land and amending and supplementing certain laws, General Part 51 Art 4–6, of Law 140/2014 52 Art 2–4 (1), of Law 140/2014 53 Artt 588–611, of Law 40/1964 Civil Code 54 Art (1), of Law 140/2014 55 Art (3), of Law 140/2014 56 Art (3), of Law 140/2014 57 Art (1) and (4), of Law 140/2014 Agricultural Land Ownership as Food Sovereignty: The Case of Slovakia 375 business for at least years before the date of the conclusion of a contract on the transfer of ownership of agricultural land either (a) in the municipality adjacent to the municipality in which the agricultural land being transferred is located or (b) regardless of the place of business.58 In third place are those persons who have had a permanent residence or registered office in Slovakia for at least 10 years.59 The condition of permanent residence (or registered office) is sufficient, meaning that the acquirer does not have to fulfill the condition of conducting business in agricultural production The condition of permanent residence was considered by the European Commission as a legal rule that violates the principle of nondiscrimination as one of the basic legal principles of European Union law It is clear that the inhabitants of Slovakia are able to fulfill this condition more easily than inhabitants from other European Union countries, which means that this rule can cause indirect discrimination in purchasing agricultural land If the law is not amended, there is a serious possibility that a claim against Slovakia will be heard in the Court of Justice of the European Union On the other hand, it should be reevaluated whether agricultural land with regard to the abovementioned considerations of food sovereignty is a suitable objective, including under the term of capital and in turn the free movement of capital The fulfillment of all the abovementioned requirements has to be verified by the District Office The application regarding verification is made by the person interested in the offered land before the conclusion of the contract It is necessary to accompany the application with seven annexes, including confirmation from the municipality in which the person carries out agricultural production as a business, proof that the business conducted involves agricultural production, or proof that the applicant has had a permanent residence or a registered office in Slovakia for at least 10 years before the conclusion of the contract on the transfer of ownership regarding agricultural land.60 The District Office issues a certificate on fulfillment of the requirements within 30 days.61 Thus, the certificate becomes an annex to the contract The contract and certificate are the most important documents when registering the new property rights to agricultural land in the land cadastre The predominant right of farmers to access agricultural land is clearly defined in the respective law.62 However, the first objective of the law—to protect agricultural land—only indirectly results from the rules within the law We can assume that land protection will be maintained through the predominant right to agricultural land, which is guaranteed to farmers There is only a comprehensible line between land protection, which is used by lawmakers to explain the needs of this law, and the legal rules of this law, which are not explicitly inclined toward protecting the land 58 Art (4), of Law 140/2014 Art (6), of Law 140/2014 60 Art (3), of Law 140/2014 61 Art (4), of Law 140/2014 62 Art 4, of Law 140/2014 59 www.ebook3000.com 376 K Dirgasova´ and J Lazı´kova´ On the other hand, the date in which the law was adopted and some of its legal rules (e.g., the condition regarding permanent residence in Slovakia) reflect the primary objectives of the law, which are intended to protect the land against the free movement of capital within the European Union However, there were (especially before the amendment) many gaps in the law Firstly, the contracting parties had been able to evade the entire procedure for concluding the contract through the institution of interchange This option was removed by the first amendment of this law, such that only land plots are suitable for interchange.63 Nowadays, it is no longer possible to change land for, say, a car Secondly, the contracting parties are no longer able to negotiate the land price The potential purchasers can only accept or refuse the price stipulated by the landowner, with no possibility of changing it On the other hand, the landowner is limited to his/her choice of contracting party because the order of the purchaser is stipulated by law This represents a huge interference in the free market regarding land Thirdly, the farmers cannot use the land as a pawn when they wish to finance a land purchase with a bank loan because pawning is, de facto, not possible to realize This procedure is also applicable to the pawn, meaning that it is impossible to sell the pawn by voluntary auction The law limits the contracting parties in terms of their creating equilibrium in the land market, which makes the financial situation of the farmers difficult Therefore, the abovementioned objectives of the law are hardly fulfilled by this legal regulation The new law complicates the land transactions, not only for foreigners but also for farmers, mainly small-scale farmers, who want to increase their acreage of cultivated agricultural land The law neither helps farmers acquire land nor hinders investors acquiring land mainly for nonagricultural purposes In conclusion, the law worsens the conditions for farmers to access agricultural land, which also threatens the food sovereignty of the countries referred to above In spite of the gradual development of the agricultural land market from 2004 onward, agricultural land sales represent a small part of all land transactions in Slovakia The new legal regulation has slowed many land transactions because of numerous bureaucratic operations; however, it did not bring the agricultural trade market to a halt 3.1 The Acreage of Offered Agricultural Land Slovakia is a Central European country covering an area of 4,903,613 Agricultural land forms about 49% of the country, forest land occupies about 41%, and 63 Slovakia, Law 122/2015, “Collection on the Changes and Amendments of Law 140/2014 Collection on the Acquisition of Ownership of Agricultural Land and amending and supplementing certain laws.” Agricultural Land Ownership as Food Sovereignty: The Case of Slovakia 377 Table Structure of the agricultural land in Slovakia (Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Authority of Slovak Republic, 2015) Agricultural land (ha) - of it: Arable land (%) Hops (%) Vineyards (%) Gardens (%) Fruit groves (%) Permanent grasslands (%) 2008 2,428,899 2010 2,417,933 2012 2,410,812 2014 2,401,693 58.71 0.02 1.12 3.16 0.72 36.27 58.64 0.02 1.12 3.17 0.71 36.33 58.72 0.02 1.12 3.18 0.70 36.26 58.84 0.02 1.11 3.18 0.70 36.14 water areas represent nearly 2%.64 The structure of the land is documented in Table The structure of agricultural landownership in Slovakia is different from the structure of land use After 1990, agricultural land was expected to be mostly farmed by its owners The expectations were not fulfilled, and owners of the agricultural land were usually interested in selling or leasing their land.65 About 90% of agricultural land is currently being leased, and land leasing will play a very important role in future.66 However, there is a similar situation in other European Union countries.67 Agricultural land is either leased from the owners who are mostly natural persons or from the Slovak Land Fund, which administers state land and land of unknown owners.68 The majority of land is cultivated by largescale agricultural corporations (agricultural cooperatives and business companies) New young farmers or small-scale farmers face a very difficult situation when they want to enlarge the acreage of their agricultural land 3.1.1 The Acreage of Arable Land Offered by the Registry The total acreage of arable land offered for sale via the Registry during the period from June 1, 2014, to May 31, 2015, equates to 2170 According to Fig 1, we can see that the largest arable land acreage was offered for sale in the Nitra region (731 ha, which represents 33.70% of the total acreage of offered arable land), in the Kosˇice region (578 ha, which represents 26.65% of the total acreage of offered 64 Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic, Statistical Yearbook www.statistics.sk/ Accessed 24 June 2015 65 Bandlerova´ et al (2013), pp 55–60; Beza´kova´ et al (1996), pp 59–62 66 Bandlerova´ et al (2005), pp 145–152; Rumanovska´ (2014), pp 315–321 67 Ciaian et al (2012), pp 2–3 68 Lazı´kova´, Taka´cˇ (2010), p 10; “land of unknown owner” refers to land where the ownership is not documented and the owner is not known www.ebook3000.com K Dirgasova´ and J Lazı´kova´ 378 5.97% (130 ha) 1.27% (28 ha) 4.60% (100 ha) 33.70% (731 ha) 1.07% (23 ha) Banská Bystrica region Bratislava region Košice region Nitra region 18.22% (395 ha) Prešov region Trenčín region Trnava region 26.65% (578 ha) Žilina region 8.51% (185 ha) Fig Share of the arable land acreage offered for sale in the Slovak regions (NUTS 3) during the period from June 1, 2014, up to May 31, 2015 (Registry of Offers of the Agricultural Land 2014–2015) arable land), and in the Banska´ Bystrica region (395 ha, which represents 18.21% of the total acreage of offered arable land) We can conclude that these three regions represent the base of the arable land market In other words, almost 80% of the total acreage of arable land was offered for sale in these cadastral areas overall Conversely, during the monitoring period, the smallest acreage was offered for sale in the Zˇilina region (23 ha, which represents 1.07% of the total acreage of arable land offered for sale) 3.1.2 The Acreage of Permanent Grasslands Offered by the Registry The total area of permanent grasslands offered for sale via the Registry between June 1, 2014, and May 31, 2015, represents 578 According to Fig 2, the largest acreage of offered permanent grasslands was located in the Banska´ Bystrica region (240 ha, which represents 41.42% of the total acreage of permanent grassland offered for sale) and in the Kosˇice region (169 ha, which represents 29.28% of the total area of permanent grassland offered for sale) More than 70% of the total acreage of offered permanent grassland was available in the cadastres of these two regions During the monitored period, the smallest permanent grasslands acreage was offered for sale in the Trnava region (1 ha, which represents 0.22% of the total acreage of permanent grassland offered for sale) Agricultural Land Ownership as Food Sovereignty: The Case of Slovakia 3.17% (18 ha) 29.28% (169 ha) Banská Bystrica region Bratislava region 9.57% (55 ha) 1.47% (8 ha) 0.22% (1 ha) 13.56% (78 ha) 379 1.30% (7 ha) Košice region Nitra region Prešov region Trenčín region 41.42% (240 ha) Trnava region Žilina region Fig Share of the permanent grasslands acreage offered for sale in the Slovak regions (NUTS3) during the period from June 1, 2014, up to May 31, 2015 (Registry of Offers of the Agricultural Land 2014–2015) 3.2 The Agricultural Land Prices The land prices are influenced by many factors, one of them being the access of foreign investors to the land market in the country.69 With this in mind, we monitored whether the land prices offered by landowners will be close to the land prices in other European countries Figure documents the land price in selected European countries 3.2.1 The Average Price of Arable Land Offered by the Registry The average price of arable land proposed by sellers in their offers, as published in the Registry, was EUR 1.98/m2 in the period from June 1, 2014, to May 31, 2015 (Fig 4) In the monitored period, the average price of arable land, according to Law 582/2004 Collection on Local Taxes and Local Fees for Municipal Waste and Minor Construction Waste (hereinafter the Law on Taxes), was EUR 0.43/m2 We can conclude that the average price of arable land per m2, as demanded by sellers, is more than 4.5 times higher than the average price according to the Law on Taxes This law stipulates land prices according to quality The highest average price demanded by sellers for m2 of arable land was in the Presˇov region, which amounted to EUR 5.71/m2 This extremely high price was due to the fact that there was one particular offer regarding the sale of arable land, in which the seller asked for EUR 50/m2, which was published in the Registry in August Meanwhile, there were eight offers in which the seller asked for EUR 45/m in December These extremely high offers regarding the sale of arable land 69 Buday et al (2013), pp 5–22 www.ebook3000.com K Dirgasova´ and J Lazı´kova´ 380 12.000 Land price EUR.ha-1 10.000 CZ ES 8.000 FI FR 6.000 LT 4.000 LV SE 2.000 SK 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Fig Development of the agricultural land prices in selected European countries (Eurostat, 2012) 5.71 6,00 5,00 €/m2 4,00 3,00 2,00 1,00 2.61 2.19 1.33 0.28 0.62 0.91 1.10 0.30 0.65 0.24 0.51 1.98 1.06 0.96 0.62 0,00 Banská Bratislava Košice Bystrica region region region Nitra region price required by sellers Prešov region Trenčín region Trnava region 0.24 Žilina region 0.43 Slovak Republic price according to the Law on taxes Fig The average price of arable land in Slovak regions (NUTS 3) during the period from June 1, 2014, up to May 31, 2015 (Registry of Offers of the Agricultural Land 2014–2015) skewed the average price asked for by sellers in the Presˇov region, as well as in Slovakia as a whole On the basis of the offers published in the Registry, the lowest average price of arable land asked for by the sellers was recorded in the Nitra region at the level of EUR 0.91/m2 The low price of arable land in the Nitra region was caused by 225 offers published in the region at a price of up to EUR 0.83/m2 It should be emphasized that, in all these offers, the sellers demanded a price that was several times lower than that of arable land according to the Law on Taxes Agricultural Land Ownership as Food Sovereignty: The Case of Slovakia 381 We noticed a paradox in that the land of highest quality was rarely offered for a higher price than that specified by the Law on Taxes; however, land in the regions with the poorest land quality was offered for a much higher price than that specified in the Law on Taxes 3.2.2 The Average Price of Permanent Grasslands Offered by the Registry The average price of permanent grasslands asked for by sellers, according to their offers published in the Registry in the period from June 1, 2014, up to May 31, 2015, amounted to EUR 1.28/m2 (Fig 5) In the same period, the average price of permanent grasslands according to the Law on Taxes was EUR 0.08/m2 The average price of permanent grasslands, according to the Law on Taxes, was almost 16 times lower than the average price of permanent grasslands asked for by sellers via the Registry The highest average price per m2 of permanent grasslands, as asked for by sellers during the monitored period, was found in the Trnava region (EUR 4.21/m2) The reason for such high prices for permanent grasslands related to two offers for the sale of permanent grasslands at a price of EUR 10.94/m2, which was published in the district of Trnava in October, and another offer, which was published in the same district at the same price in November It should be noted that, in this case, the 4,50 4,00 3,50 3,00 2,50 2,00 1,50 1,00 0,50 0,00 4.21 1.75 0.84 0.05 1.11 0.09 0.27 0.05 0.75 0.90 price required by sellers 0.13 0.03 0.420.15 0.11 0.03 1.28 0.08 price according to the Law on taxes Fig The average price of permanent grasslands in the Slovak regions (NUTS 3) during the period from June 1, 2014, up to May 31, 2015 (Registry of Offers of the Agricultural Land, 2014–2015) www.ebook3000.com 382 K Dirgasova´ and J Lazı´kova´ seller offered a price that was more than 100 times higher than the value of those permanent grasslands according to the Law on Taxes (EUR 0.11/m2) During the monitored period, the lowest average price of permanent grasslands proposed by sellers was in the Kosˇice region (EUR 0.27/m2) The decrease in the average price proposed by sellers per m2 of permanent grasslands was primarily caused by offers for the sale of permanent grasslands, where the sellers assessed the value of their respective agricultural land at EUR 0.01/m2 and EUR 0.02/m2 Such an extreme decline in the average price of permanent grasslands is most likely a result of the low quality of land, which is reflected in the price of land according to the Law on Taxes Law on Agricultural Land Protection The development of the agricultural sector is influenced by the decrease in agricultural land area, particularly arable land, and the problem of farmers’ access to land Major decreases in agricultural land areas have been documented in Estonia, Bulgaria, Latvia, Poland, and Slovakia.70 Agricultural land is increasingly used for nonagricultural purposes, while foreign investments support nonagricultural land use This phenomenon also threatens the food sovereignty of the state Therefore, lawmakers around the world have adopted legal regulations for the protection of agricultural land Slovak lawmakers have tried to pursue this approach in the form of the abovementioned Law on the Acquisition of Ownership of Agricultural Land, which was not very successful, and Law 220/2004 Collection on Agricultural Land Protection According to the latter law, agricultural land should be protected by various legal institutes regulated by this law, e.g by the principles of the sustainable use of agricultural land; the obligations of landowners and users in terms of how to protect the land against degradation, erosion, etc.;71 the procedure of changing the land type;72 and the procedure whereby agricultural land should be used for nonagricultural purposes.73 We focus our attention to the last one In the case in which a landowner wants to use agricultural land for nonagricultural purposes (e.g., building purposes), he/she needs to file an application regarding permanent or temporal exclusion of the respective land plot from agricultural land at the county office The landowner needs to attach several annexes and pay the fee for the exclusion of agricultural land.74 The fees are stipulated by Government Regulation 58/2013 Collection Nowadays, the fees are 70 Bielik et al (2013), p 75 Art 3–8, of Law 220/2004 72 Art 9–11, of Law 220/2004 73 Art 12–18, of Law 220/2004 74 Art 17 (5), of Law 220/2004 71 Agricultural Land Ownership as Food Sovereignty: The Case of Slovakia 383 EUR 0.50–20/m2 for the permanent exclusion of a land plot from agricultural land and EUR 0.005–0.20/m2 for the temporary exclusion of a land plot from agricultural land The amount of the fee depends on the quality of land.75 The government regulation stipulates some exemptions when the fees are higher76 (e.g., in case of excluded vineyards) or when the fees are not paid (e.g., building drinking water facilities).77 However, we not know how these fees have been stipulated, in other words, whether it is a result of economic and environmental analysis or whether it was only stipulated accidentally If taking into account the historical analysis of the development of fees, we may consider the latter possibility to be more probable The fees for the exclusion of agricultural land were first imposed in Slovakia in 1976 They have been changed several times (in 1984, 1993, and 1996) They have also been canceled on one occasion (in 2004), although the fees were reintroduced years later Government Regulation 376/2008 Collection states that “the experiences showed that the cancellation of fees was not in favour of agricultural land being sustained for future generations.”78 However, the fees were not imposed overall but only with regard to agricultural land of the best quality Agricultural land was divided into nine quality groups The fees were only paid if the excluded land plot belonged to the first, second, third, or fourth quality group of agricultural land.79 The remaining agricultural land was free of fees The government regulation was revoked, and the new one was adopted, namely Government Regulation 58/2013 Collection, as mentioned above.80 This regulation expanded the obligation with regard to the payment of fees for all nine land quality groups The explanatory report does not provide any reasoning for such an expansion Generally, any explanatory report81 has not provided an analytical reasoning of the amount of fees or their extent According to the data from the Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Authority of the Slovak Republic, we can observe the development of the excluded area of agricultural land between 2005 and 2013 in Slovakia (Fig 6) According to Fig 6, we can conclude that the frequent changes in fees are not favorable From 2005 to 2007, when the fees were canceled, about 2300 per year 75 Slovakia, Government Regulation 58/2013, “Collection on the Fees for Agricultural Land Excluding Illegal Occupation of Agricultural Land.” 76 Art 2, of Government Regulation 58/2013 77 Art 4, of Government Regulation 58/2013 78 Explanatory Statement to the Government Regulation 376/2008 Collection on Fees for Agricultural Land Excluding Illegal Occupation of Agricultural Land http://www.justice.gov.sk Accessed 25 June 2014 79 Slovakia, Government Regulation 376/2008, “Collection on the Fees for Agricultural Land Excluding Illegal Occupation of Agricultural Land.” 80 Slovakia, Government Regulation 58/2013, “Collection on the Fees for Agricultural Land Excluding Illegal Occupation of Agricultural Land.” 81 Slovakia, Explanatory Statement to the Government Regulations 58/2013 Collection on Fees for Agricultural Land Excluding Illegal Occupation of Agricultural Land www.ebook3000.com K Dirgasova´ and J Lazı´kova´ 384 excluding agricultural land in 6.000 5.545 5.421 5.000 4.841 4.278 3.642 4.000 3.479 3.000 2.000 1.784 1.000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Fig Development of the excluded areas of the agricultural land in Slovakia in in the period 2007–2013 (Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Authority of the Slovak Republic, 2015) Table Development of the land structure in Slovakia 2007–2014 in (Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre Authority of Slovak Republic, 2015) Decrease/Increase Type of lands (ha) Arable land Hops Vineyards Gardens Fruit groves Permanent grasslands Agricultural land Forest land Water areas Built-up areas Others 2007 2008 2009 2010 -1,461 -4 -71 -93 -202 -4,044 -10 15 -84 -230 -3,869 -1 -118 -73 -103 -1,350 -49 -34 -223 -980 -3 -94 34 -176 -1,914 -2 -33 -610 -2 -214 -121 -68 Total decrease/ increase in 20072013 -14,228 -21 -564 -366 -999 47 -1,784 203 331 839 588 -1,067 -5,421 1,115 919 1,128 2,390 -1,383 -5,545 586 70 882 4,021 -1,986 -3,642 2,407 116 648 397 -2,260 -3,479 1,086 1,378 980 -2,900 -4,841 1,723 632 2,403 -3,263 -4,278 1,309 100 706 2,165 -12,812 -28,990 8,429 1,539 6,213 12,944 2011 2012 2013 were excluded from agricultural land However, the expectations of the land market subjects on imposing the fees again caused an extreme increase of excluding the areas of agricultural land in order to avoid paying fees The new government regulation in 2013 caused the same situation The excluded area of agricultural land increased in 2012, compared to previous years Table describes the development of the land decrease (or increase) according to the land type The most fertile land (arable land) was excluded for nonagricultural purposes, especially in the years when the changes of legal regulation were expected We assume that the main role of lawmakers should be stabilization of land policy in the field of land protection; however, Slovak lawmakers evoked Agricultural Land Ownership as Food Sovereignty: The Case of Slovakia 385 uncertainty regarding land market subjects in terms of the frequent changes to the fee policy This has had a negative effect on the exclusion of agricultural land and land protection The main role of the fees is to avoid excluding land plots from agricultural land; however, the frequent changes in the field, in terms of the fee policy, have evoked the opposite effect The policy against the exclusion of agricultural land is an effective measure for land protection Its strictness and the right amount of the fees can protect agricultural land more effectively than the Law on the Acquisition of Ownership of Agricultural Land, as mentioned in Sect On the other hand, a stable land policy is necessary, given that the permanent changes in the legal regulations cause uncertainty and chaos with regard to the expectations of the land market subjects and their behavior, which are different from the effect that lawmakers expect in relation to the field of land protection Therefore, the new legal regulation should only be adopted on the basis of economic and environmental analysis with regard to the followed objectives, which are mainly to protect agricultural land and farmers’ access to land in order to promote food sovereignty Concluding Remarks Agricultural land is a natural resource that should be protected for future generations all around the world Agricultural land plays an important role in the case of national food sovereignty For this reason, agricultural land needs to be protected Several initiatives at the international level have sought to create a guiding framework of obligations and rights concerning how to protect the land, as introduced earlier This issue has also been addressed by Slovak lawmakers at a national level However, the questions that need to be asked relate to the quality and effect of this legislation Slovak lawmakers’ intention was to protect the land, but the results either not meet this objective or have had the opposite effects Therefore, a careful analysis of the impact is needed more than rushed legal regulations, which can cause problems that outweigh the desired effects Law 140/2014 Collection on the Acquisition of Ownership of Agricultural Land is the best example of a rushed legal regulation According to the explanatory report, this law should avoid speculative land transactions and follow the misuse of ownership in relation to land users, especially in the case of inadequate land rent payment The land market is not able to ensure land protection and land management This is proven by the fact that the area of agricultural land is still decreasing However, we assume that there are more effective legislative measures concerning how to achieve these objectives, e.g., stricter conditions against the exclusion of agricultural land plots for nonagricultural purposes and the right amount of fees for excluding such land plots However, such fees should not be the object of permanent changes The case of Slovakia has shown that relatively frequent changes (every years) lead to the opposite of what the law sought to realize www.ebook3000.com 386 K Dirgasova´ and J Lazı´kova´ At the international level, especially at the European Union level, the question should be raised as to whether it is reasonable, and on what basis, to include agricultural land in the context of capital and the free movement of capital The agricultural land—as a natural resource, the natural heritage of all people in the world, the basic resource for food sovereignty, and a nonsubstitutable resource— needs a special regime of protection outside the scope of the free movement of capital in the world References Aabø E, Kring T (2012) The political economy of large-scale agricultural land acquisitions: implications for food security and livelihoods/employment creation in rural Mozambique Working Paper 2012-004 United Nations Development Programme, Regional Bureau for Africa http://www.undp.org/content/dam/rba/docs/Working%20Papers/Agriculture%20Rural %20Mozambique.pdf Accessed 31 July 2015 Agarwal B (2014) Food sovereignty, food security and democratic choice: critical contradictions, difficult conciliations J Peasant Stud 41(6):1247–1268 Alarco´n D, Bodouroglou CH (2011) Agricultural innovation for food security and environmental sustainability in the context of 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countries from developed countries Paper presented in the 41st Annual Meeting of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, Chicago, 21–24 October 1999 Kay S, Peuch J, Franco J (2015) Extent of farmland grabbing in the EU European Parliament, Brussels http://www.europarl.europa.eu/studies Accessed 30 Sept 2016 Lazı´kova´ J, Taka´cˇ I (2010) Pra´vne a ekonomicke´ aspekty na´jmu polˇnohospoda´rskej poˆdy [Legal and Economic Aspects of Agricultural Land Lease] Slovak University of Agriculture, Nitra Lee R (2007) Food security and food sovereignty Discussion Paper Series No 11 Centre for Rural Economy, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne www.ncl.ac.uk/cre/publish/discussionpapers/ pdfs/dp11%20Lee.pdf Accessed 25 June 2015 Lerch M (2015) Food security is a multi-layered concept, covering availability, access, use and stability https://europa.eu/eyd2015/en/eu-european-parliament/posts/food-security-multilay ered-concept-covering-availability-access-use Accessed 25 June 2015 Munro Faure P, Palmer D (2012) An overview of the voluntary guidelines on the governance of tenure Land Tenure J 3(1):5–17 www.ebook3000.com 388 K Dirgasova´ and J Lazı´kova´ NGO (1996) La Via Campesina, “Food sovereignty: a future without hunger,” Statement by the NGO Forum to the World Food Summit http://www.acordinternational.org/silo/files/ decfoodsov1996.pdf Accessed 16 March 2017 NGO (2003) La Via Campesina, “Peoples’ food sovereignty - WTO out of agriculture” https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/main-issues-mainmenu-27/food-sovereignty-and-trademainmenu-38/396-peoples-food-sovereignty-wto-out-of-agriculture Accessed 16 March 2017 Pinstrup Andersen P (2009) Food security: definition and measurement Food Secur 1(1):5–7 Rumanovska´ Lˇ (2014) Evaluation of the impact of agricultural land lease relations in agricultural subjects in Slovakia Scientific Papers Series “Management, economic engineering in agriculture and rural development” 14(1):315–321 Rumanovska´ Lˇ, Taka´cˇ I (2015) Realiza´cia 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of Agriculture, Nitra Taka´cˇ I (2010) The legislation adjustment of agricultural land rent and purchase by foreigners in Slovakia and selected EU countries In: Rural development and structural changes companies in agrokomplex Slovak University of Agriculture, Nitra, pp 260–266 Taka´cˇ I (2014) Trhu s poˆdou na Slovensku by pomohla vaăcsia suta o jej prenajom [The more intensive competition of land rent will be helpful to the agricultural land development] AGROmagazı´n 16(11):20–22 Taka´cˇ I, Bandlerova´ A (2010) Land market development in selected countries of the European union In: Sovremennye problemy razvitija nacionalˇnoj ekonomiki: sbornik statej k meždunarodnoj naucˇno-prakticˇeskoj konferencii, Stavropolˇ Taka´cs-Gy€orgy K, Bandlerova´ A, Sadowski A (2008) Užı´vanie poˆdy a poˆdna reforma v by´valy´ch krajina´ch strednej a vy´chodnej Euro´py [Land use and land reform in the states of Middle and Eastern Europe] In Selected issues of EU agrarian law IV - structural changes in agriculture Slovak University of Agriculture, Nitra Tschamtke T et al (2012) Global food security, biodiversity conversation and the future of agricultural intensification Biol Convers 151(1):53–59 Turral H, Burke J, Faure`s JM (2011) Climate change, water and food security FAO, Rome http:// www.fao.org/docrep/014/i2096e/i2096e.pdf Accessed 20 Sept 2016 Windfuhr M, Jonse´n J (2005) Food sovereignty Towards democracy in localized food systems ITDG Publishing, Warwickshire ... Multifunctionality Towards an analytical framework OECD Publishing, Paris Raisz A, Szila´gyi JE (2012) Development of agricultural law and related fields (environmental law, water law, social law, tax law) ... Contents Agricultural Law from a Global Perspective: An Introduction Mariagrazia Alabrese Part I Environmental Protection and Food Security at the Cross-Roads with Agricultural Law Sustainable... environmental law Finally, it portrays the development and relation of agricultural law to all the aforementioned issues and calls for the adoption a global approach What Is Agricultural Law? Defining